BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union failed to pass new sanctions on Russia on Monday after surprise objections from Hungary, the bloc’s top diplomat said.
“This is a setback and a message we did not want to send today,” said Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief. Foreign ministers had scrambled to finalize the sanctions along with a massive new loan for Kyiv ahead of the fourth anniversary of a war that has left an estimated 1.8 million Russian and Ukrainian soldiers dead, wounded or missing.
Monday’s meeting sought to make Russia pay a greater economic price for the all-out war it launched against its neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022, and which shows no sign of ending.
Hungary, seen as the EU’s most pro-Russian member, threatened over the weekend to hold up both the sanctions and the 90 billion euro ($106 billion) loan meant to help Ukraine meet its military and economic needs for the next two years.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz marked what he called “four monstrous years of war” at a pro-Ukrainian event in Berlin on Monday.